DuPont Pioneer reports 1% corn share increase

DuPont announced a gain of more than one point in North America corn market share for its Pioneer seed business and strong harvest results in 2013 - delivered through a competitive product lineup and innovative Decision Services that help growers to be more productive and profitable on every acre.

Paul E. Schickler, president of DuPont Pioneer, discussed the continued growth of the Pioneer business which has seen sales grow 11 percent year-to-date through September, as well as plans to extend its leading global position in seeds at the recent Morgan Stanley Global Chemicals and Agriculture Conference in Boston.

"Pioneer brand products, coupled with our industry-leading agronomic and technical support, delivered strong yield performance again on growers' farms this year, validating the more than one point gain we achieved in North America corn market share in 2013 based upon the November U.S. Department of Agriculture acreage report," said Schickler.

"This year's harvest results demonstrate the strength of our product lineup with leading product offerings including Pioneer brand Optimum AQUAmax corn products, Optimum AcreMax insect control products and new T Series soybeans."

New Hybrid Lineups Create Value in Corn Business

"New genetic platforms in Pioneer corn product lineups continued to demonstrate strong performance. New products launched since 2011 are expected to comprise three-quarters of our 2014 product volume," said Schickler.

"Our right product, right acre approach to developing, testing and placing seed is critical to grower success and has contributed to our increased corn market share in North America since 2008," said Schickler. "With the broadest corn product line-up in the industry, Pioneer has a solid foundation for continued growth."

Optimum AQUAmax corn hybrids, planted on 7 million acres in 2013, continued to perform rain or shine. In their third year of commercial sales, Optimum AQUAmax hybrids have been tested in an unprecedented 23,000 on-farm yield comparisons, leading to demand expected to exceed 10 million acres in 2014.

Penetration of their integrated and reduced refuge Optimum AcreMax family of corn products also continued to grow in 2013, and these products are expected to comprise about two-thirds of corn unit sales in 2014.

Pioneer Brand T Series Soybeans Make Strong Debut

Launched for the 2013 growing season, Pioneer brand T Series soybeans delivered strong yield results for growers. Next year, 53 newly advanced T Series varieties are expected to comprise about one-third of North America soybean volume.

After successful local testing in IMPACT trials, 13 of the advanced T Series varieties will carry the Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield trait.

"Farmers saw improved yield results in 2013 with Pioneer soybean products," said Schickler. "We look forward to offering our customers more choices in 2014 - leveraging the strength of our new T Series varieties."

The business' North America soybean market share was about one point lower in 2013 following gains of over 10 points since 2008.

Delivering Whole-Farm Decision Services to Growers

Leveraging its unique route-to-market, DuPont Pioneer is an industry leader in providing next-generation agronomy and Decision Services to growers through an expanding field services team and utilization of new technologies.

When yield monitors became commonplace on U.S. farms, Pioneer launched comprehensive field-by-field mapping services. As agricultural operations became more complex, Pioneer grew its whole-farm profitability services to include a real-time grain marketing platform.

In the last year, Pioneer worked one-on-one with customers to map more than 20 million acres of harvest and as-planted acres, and to implement more than 1.5 million acres of variable rate seeding prescriptions. Providing end-to-end services, Pioneer has connected about 8,000 grain sellers and buyers through the Farms Technology Dynamic Pricing Platform.

John Deere and Pioneer recently announced a collaboration to allow growers to transmit field data wirelessly from Deere equipment to Pioneer Field360 Select software, offering unparalleled convenience and timely analysis.

"Our Decision Services are helping growers to maximize profits and minimize risk, while improving farm operation sustainability through science, technology and customer knowledge," said Schickler.